Archaeology excavation is best known and most commonly used within the science of archaeology. In this sense it is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains.

Monday, August 8, 2011

1,600-year-old human remains unearthed

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a man, which they believe could be more than 1,600 years old. The team from Northamptonshire Archaeology made the discovery while carrying out investigations on a building site.

A small piece of pottery found alongside the crouched skeleton was
used to date the burial to somewhere between the years 43 and 410 – suggesting the body is Roman.

Archaeologist Andy Chapman said: “It was a very interesting find."

“There’s a Bronze Age barrow next to where we found the remains so it looks like the Romans just came along 2,000 years later and buried this man right next to it. It was a really interesting site for our team to work on," he added.

As the piece of pottery is really small, experts will now use carbon dating techniques on the remains to work out more accurately how old they are.

Chapman said: “The bones were actually in a fairly poor condition, because they were in quite sandy soil.

“So the body was pretty poorly preserved, but hopefully the carbon dating will give us a bit clearer picture of how old the remains are,” he added.